Did you know that historically, the family Bible is typically passed down through the matriarchal side of the family, given as a gift to the eldest daughter? Although many families choose to openly discuss who will be the keeper of the treasured volume and further pass it along. In either case, the condition of the Bible’s cover, spine, pages, ribbon markers can gravely suffer over 50 to 100 years.
We found a quote that spoke to the fact that with use comes damage.
"A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” ― Charles Spurgeon
In addition to spiritual support over lifetimes, the importance of preserving Christian Bibles and Hebrew Torahs is how ancestry.com finds valuable information. It has compiled data with family records through thousands upon thousands of Bibles. Typically, they find the original owner’s name, a record of descendants, event dates, i.e. births, marriages, deaths. They are a gold mine to researchers.
What is the keeper, of what might be considered the holy grail, to do when pages are beginning to fall out? The spine is cracking and pulling apart? Are the ribbons frayed and torn?
In our research, we found out what you might think. The DIY person takes to YouTube. And it is scary! Someone posted a video using Gorilla Glue to fix the spine. Not sure about you, but I have visions of all the pages glued tight together and ruined. If the product description of “it has incredible, industrial holding power. The water-activated polyurethane formula expands into materials to form an incredibly strong bond to virtually anything making Gorilla Glue your solution for almost any project or repair.” Except, we say for Bibles!
And, we wouldn’t want to leave out the ultimate go-to for every repair imaginable — Duct Tape. If I had a dollar for every time a Bible came to us with its spine duct taped to hold the pages together . . . I’d be heading out on quite a shopping spree!
Our advice is to have an experienced craftsman repair your damaged Bible according to its style and materials.
Bookbinding is an artistic craft of great antiquity. It’s a highly specialized trade. A worn Bible may take several repair operations and techniques to bring it back to life. Our head bookbinder has more than 15 years’ experience in preserving people’s treasures. Each one is an heirloom. Each one carrying on a family’s legacy for generations to come.
It’s best to assess your Bible’s condition, even send in photos of your Bible for an estimate and arrange to have repairs done before there is too much damage or deterioration.
Please, no Duct Tape or Gorilla Glue!